Author(s)

Sergio González-García, Zenaida Hernández-Díaz, Luis Quevedo-Sotolongo, Marisol Peña-Sánchez, Yaima Pino-Peña, Rebeca Fernández-Carriera, Caridad Menéndez-Saínz, Alina González-Quevedo, Janis Eells

Cira García Central Clinic, La Habana, Cuba.
College of Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, USA.
Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery, La Habana, Cuba.

Introduction: Subclinical brain damage in essential hypertension is more prevalent than cardiovascular or renal impairment; nevertheless, screening for nervous system involvement is difficult due to the low accessibility and high costs of these techniques. Objective: To assess the frequency of silent target organ damage in a cohort of asymptomatic hypertensive patients and to evaluate the potential usefulness of carotid ultrasonographic (US) variables as predictors of subclinical brain damage. Patients and Methods: Thirty four neurologically asymptomatic subjects (mean age 59 years) with essential hypertension were included. Target organ damage was evaluated: degree of hypertensive retinopathy, heart, kidney and brain. Structural and hemodynamical carotid Doppler US parameters were also investigated. Results: The brain was the most frequently affected target organ (70.6%), followed by the heart (67.9%) and kidney (58.6%). Carotid US parameters showed no association of intima media thickness with brain MRI results; nevertheless, decreased diastolic flow velocity and increased resistive index pointed to a resistive carotid flow pattern in patients with classical brain MRI lesions and predicted subclinical lesions with a sensitivity of 70% and 74% and a specificity of 72% and 80% respectively. Conclusions: This study supports previous findings that place the brain as the most frequently affected target organ in essential hypertensive patients and sheds more light on the potential usefulness of carotid structure and hemodynamics as imaging biomarkers of subclinical brain lesions.

Subclinical Brain Damage, Essential Hypertension, Carotid Doppler

González-García, S. , Hernández-Díaz, Z. , Quevedo-Sotolongo, L. , Peña-Sánchez, M. , Pino-Peña, Y. , Fernández-Carriera, R. , Menéndez-Saínz, C. , González-Quevedo, A. and Eells, J. (2014) Resistive Cerebral Blood Flow as a Potential Marker of Subclinical Brain Damage in Essential Hypertension. World Journal of Cardiovascular Diseases, 4, 169-178. doi: 10.4236/wjcd.2014.44025.